>> an investigation into a local police department suggests quotas for arrests and tickets. only on 9, the document that just might prove it. also, a middle school wants to give out free condoms to seventh graders. plus, 9 wants to know, should a 14-year-old ever be sent to prison for life?

>> that very question is what the supreme court begins to struggle with in arguments scheduled for tomorrow morning. is this cruel and unusual punishment that violates the u.s. constitution? >> this is a case of a 14-year- old sentenced to prison for life with absolutely no chance of parole. only on 9, gary nurenberg talks tonight with the daughter of the man that 14-year-old killed. >> reporter: cole cannon was 52 when evan miller and his friend repeatedly broke into his trailer. >> he robbed my father. went over there and stole baseball cards. went back over there at a later time and viciously beat him with his fists and with a bat, with blood going everywhere. and then sat three or four places of origin, set it on fire to cover up with he did. >> reporter: but cole wasn't dead when the flames began to spread. >> he died as a result of about six to eight broken ribs, a blunt force trauma to the head, in combination with the smoke

inhalation from the fire. >> reporter: this is miller at 23 shall posting pictures on a social network site despite a ban on cameras in his prison cell. at 14 he was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole, a sentence his lawyer and some psychology experts argue violates the ban on cruel and unusual punishment because a 14-year-old's brain is not fully developed and is unable to think like an adult. >> so then the question becomes do we hold someone fully accountable for something, when they themselves are not fully developed to their potential yet. they should be held responsible. the question is how and to what degree we hold them responsible. >> reporter: cole cannon's daughter has an answer. >> this is something that we live with on a daily basis, and will have to live with for the rest of our lives. my dad was the father to three, a son and two daughters. he has six grandchildren that he will never meet, that he never got the chance to meet. justice needs to be done, and

his sentence needs to remain life without parole. >> reporter: the court already ruled that a minor cannot be sentenced to death and you can't impose life in prison for a minor without a homicide, but life in prison for a 14-year- old where there is a murder? we might not get a direct answer, because the law in question here doesn't give the trial court judge a choice. life without parole is mandatory. the court could decide to throw out that law without reaching the broader question of whether life for 14-year-olds is constitutional. anita. >> complicated, indeed. gary nurenberg, thank you. to another story you won't see anywhere else. an internal document obtained today by 9 news appears to show that at police are required to make a certain number of arrests and issue a certain number of traffic tickets every month. as matt jablow tells us, some people are calling it a quota system and charge the police department adamantly denies. >> reporter: the memo was written by two captains in the patrol division of the arlington police department. the subject line of the memo

reads, proactivety expectations 2012. the memo clearly states there is not and has never been a quota system for traffic enforcement in arlington county. but having said that, the memo's authors then lay out specific monthly targets that officers are expected to meet, specifically between 3 and 7 arrests, depending on the shift, and between 16 and 28 traffic tickets. failing to meet those goals, the memo says, could result in disciplinary action. the public and generally the legislature have rejected quotas. >> reporter: lon anderson is with triple a atlantic. while he says the numbers don't seem that high and police departments are entitled to have productivity guidelines,

he'svee hem mentally -- he's against setting quotas. most of the drivers we spoke with today in arlington, some of whom said they've long suspected a quota system in the county, were not entirely surprised by the memo, but they certainly were angered by it. >> yes, it is wrong. they've been forced to make a quota. you get your ticket any kind of way. >> i think there are better things they can be doing with their time than to try to get people ticketed and meet their quotas. >> reporter: in a written statement today, a spokesman for the arlington police department said the numbers mentioned in the memo serve as a guideline for officers and are not evidence of a quota system. we asked to interview the arlington police chief tonight but the request was denied. >> thank you, matt. taxes up and exemptions down for the rich in maryland. a house subcommittee approved an income tax plan for single people making more than a hundred grand a year or couplesmaking more than $150,000. it reverses the action the senate took on friday. the plan is closer to the one

governor martin o'malley proposed in january. the changes are part of a larger effort to close the 1.1 billion dollar budget gap. apparently it is not water running out of a faucet in bethesda. instead it's more like liquid gold. you see the homeowners monthly water bill was not the usual $60. no, it was $5,366. and worse yet, this particular homeowner, ann mostly cloudy intire, has -- mcentire, has her bill automatically deducted, so,poof, that money gone in a flash. >> i get my money back in four to six weeks. they said the larger amount they owe me, the longer time it would take. if they owed me $50 i could get it back right away. >> really? this is where our colleague jumped in. he got wind of the billing mistake. after a call, the utility promised to hand-deliver a check to ann tomorrow.

anita? tonight, french president has raised that country's terrorism alert to its highest level, following the deadly shooting outside a jewish school. a gunman on a motorcycle opened fire this morning killing three children and a rabbi, making it the worst ever school shooting in france. they say one of the weapons used was the same one used to kill three paratroopers in two different attacks in the same region last week. >> the jewish school was a target. this is something that cannot be understood, how can you aim at children from a close range and kill them? >> french media reports the soldiers in last week's attacks were of arab decent. security has been tightened at both jewish and muslim buildings all around. the attorney who defended serial killer ted bundy sometime ago is now representing the u.s. army sergeant suspected of killing more than a dozen afghan civilians and burning some of their bodies.

john henry brown met with his client, robert bales, inside a military prison today. bales could be formally charged this week with killing 16 afghan civilians, nine of them children. brown described his conversation with the 38 father of two as an emotional one. >> he's in shock. he's fixated on the troops left on the ground, and what they're accusing him of and how that might have negative ramifications on his friends and come patriots. and he's concerned there would be retaliation that would be caused by what people think he's done. >> brown says his client has no memory of the horrible events he's accused of. bales joined the military after 9/11, and did four tours of duty in the middle east. he was injured twice. his lawyer says bales lost part of his foot and suffered a brain injury and concussion in combat. an animal clinic in burk,

virginia, is saying thanks to a search and rescue dog named red.red spent the last ten years helping in the aftermath of disasters like hurricane katrina and the 9/11 attack on the pentagon. now he's getting up in age and has arthritis. so today they teamed up to give red a stem cell treatment so her arthritis pain might get a little better. here's red's owner. >> she can't get on the couch anymore. it would be nice if she felt better, she could do certain things that she misses. >> the vets say this treatment has a success rate of 75 to 80%. within a couple of months red could be a lot more comfortable and perhaps even anxious to run around and play again. the unseasonably warm temps have the cherry blossoms blooming early and people pouring out to see them. this is what it looked like along the tidal basin this morning. the national cherry blossomfestival kicks off

tomorrow and runs through april 27th. it marks the 100 year anniversary of japan gifting the 3,000 trees to the district of columbia. >> 76 today at national, but 76 at dulles was a record high. i want to bring this before you leave the house. here's a look at the wakeup weather. temps in the 50s. by 7:00 in the 50s. by 9:00, mild, temperatures also in the 50s. we'll come back, talk about when the fog burns off and also track thunderstorms on live doppler. we have a brand-new picture we just received of possible funnel cloud in winchester. still ahead tonight, condoms and 12-year-olds. why a middle school plans to give them out for free. plus, her son killed by a member of an anticrime group. a mother finally talks, next on 9 news now.

tonight, we're hearing from the father of von martin, the teenager shot to death last month during a confrontation with a member of a neighborhood anticrime group. martin was unarmed. >> to me, it was no question. there was definitely a murder. he was murdered. >> shot in cold blood? >> shot in cold blood.

>> now, the shooter, george zimmerman, tells a different story. he says he fired in self- defense, and police say the evidence supports zimmerman's story, so they've not filed any charges. zimmerman spotted martin inside a gated subdivision looking in his words, suspicious, so he called the cops. the police told him to back off, they would handle it. zimmerman followed the teenager anyway. neighbors heard a fight and called 911 to report screams, then a gunshot. >> do you think he's yelling help? >> yes. [ gunshot. >> that's my baby. that's my son that was yelling. >> when you heard the gunshot, that must have been wrenching. >> it left a hole in my heart. an explosion came in my heart when i heard the gunshot. >> florida prosecutors are reviewing all this, but martin's family wants the fbi to take over. good idea, handing out free condoms to help prevent unwanted pregnancies and the

spread of stds. bad idea, giving them to 12- year-olds in a public school. that's according to parents in springfield, massachusetts, who are pretty mad. a program that would allow kids to walk into the nurse's office and ask for a free condom. they would get counseling on abstinence and how to use the condom and the consequences of having sex. not all parents are on board with this program, but some say it's just a harsh reality they have to face. >> i don't think that's a good idea right now. i think when they get a little older, maybe high school, not that young, i don't think that's a good idea. i wouldn't want them giving them to them. >> i really doesn't agree with it, but these days, that's how it is. a lot of young ones experimenting with it. >> research there has shown one out of every four 12-year-olds say they have had sexual intercourse. by ninth grade, it's one out of every two. the policy still needs a second vote before it is officially approved. so condoms for 12-year-olds? it is honestly hard to imagine.

but tonight, derrick says there's a lot about this current generation of young people that may be tough for us grownups to wrap our minds away. >> anita. it is not like it was when we were growing up. that's been the big take away from the series on underage drinking. 15-year-olds binging on vodka, ending up in the hospital? sorry, that's way beyond anything i ever saw or participated in. not to say we were any better or smarter than today's kids but the times were so different. today, everything is just extreme. and that is the prism on through which i have to view this whole condom issue. sure, it is horrifying to think 12-year-old kids might have a need for birth control, but just as disturbing is the research that says one in four 12-year-olds is having sexual intercourse. if i was a parent i would be furious to think the school was giving my kids condoms in the nurse's office. they're too young. but what if it turned out to be the difference between my kid getting pregnant or catching a

disease. would i still be mad? would you? let's be real. you canning get riled up by the school officials and their condom plan, but that's only a symptom. the real problem? 12-year-olds are having sex. and as a society, we really can't come to any consensus or perhaps we just don't know what to do about it. anita. >> it is what keeps us parents up at night, derrick. thank you. how would you like a road or bridge named after you. if you've got the money, the state of virginia says let's talk. a new law allows the state to sell naming rights to roads and bridges. the transportation department is working out the details, but be prepared to ante up serious cash, $200,000 or more for your name on an interstate. i'm thinking organizations may be more into that. >> that's a lot of cash. >> sure is. we have thunderstorms earlier in winchester. they were heavy. we got reports there was some

hail. check out this picture. this is a disorganized funnel cloud in the winchester area. and it was located between 6:30 and 7:00 near wards plaza on bali avenue near u.s. 11 near winchester. that does appear to me to be a disorganized funnel cloud with a wall cloud in the back. so appreciate you sending this in. we thank you. our viewers take good care of us. good news is it never touched down. that's the difference between a funnel cloud and tornado. it never touches down. here's our weather cam. there's the capitol. temperatures 66. winds out of the south/southeast at 6. the pressure at 30.18 and actually rising a little bit. the dew point is 59. the dew points are that high, it's going to be a very mild night, no doubt about that. here's live doppler 9000. a lot of showers and storms much of the afternoon and evening. up near hey gears town and down toward winchester. now they're confined up to 70. no warnings on these just yet,

but they're pretty heavy. pretty good rain kind of straddling the maryland p.a. border here. these will head toward hagerstown. the red indicating rainfall rates over an inch per hour. further south a pretty big storm, too. this is moving across 15 down to the south and to the east. widen out a little bit. the yellow and orange is rainfall, 3/4 of an much per hour. no hail. that shows up as a magenta or purple. over the next hour, where do they go? they weaken a little bit but kind of roll right down to 70. so in the wake of these storms, that's where the fog could be tomorrow. and speaking of storms and funnel clouds, the virginia state tornado drill is tomorrow. so don't freak out if some of your devices go off. 9:45 will be a test of the system. the morning fog in the morning, happy spring though at 1:14 in the morning. we're looking at showers for both commutes, both in the morning and afternoon. i don't think we'll see anything heavy. still mild for tuesday. maybe not quite as warm as our

76 today, but a far cry from our average temperature of 58. we lost sight of our averages. futurecast, generally light indicated by green. we'll put this into motion. in and out of showers much of the day. this is noon. if you're walking to lunch, bring your umbrella. by evening, hit or miss showers south and west, out toward leesburg and up toward frederick. not everybody will see rain at the same time. the showers will be short- lived. by this time tomorrow, some showers out toward frederick and leesburg and manassas, and particularly out in the cumberland area. overnight, we'll keep a chance for showers and a thunderstorm. also some fog. mr. bernstein will have more on that tomorrow morning. lows only 50 to 56. winds southeast at 5 to 10. speaking of the elk equinox, we are going into spring in the

northern hemisphere. in the southern hemisphere they're going into fall at 1:14 in the morning. mostly cloudy in the morning. fog, showers, maybe a thunderstorm. 50s and 60s. all right, next seven days, it stays relatively warm. wednesday, low 70s, maybe a shower. then thursday and friday, we're back in the mid-70s with a better chance of thunderstorms, actually. a little bit cooler over the weekend. showers and storms possible on saturday. kind of late rain or drizzle on sunday. we still maintain 60s right on through monday. that's okay. again, no wind, so the cherry blossoms will remain fine. >> okay. all right, sounds good. we want to remind everybody, we have started a little friendly tv and radio bracket competition for this year's march madness. if you head-on over to wusa9.com and click on the tv/radio anchor challenge, you'll see brackets from several of us. lurch from the sports junkie to wjfk and other dj's and anchors from all over the place.

check them out, see how you match up. that's if you still have a bracket. mine's been blown up and destroyed. >> how about you? >> i was actually looking at mine. i've got more rights than wrongs. mine's color-coded. >> pink and green. i love that. >> is your final four still intact? >> no, michigan, so i lost one. >> that's not bad. you still have three. >> all the local men all out. the women, though, they're rolling on. can maryland get revenge on louisville tonight? plus, a few more redskins out the door. the latest free agent moves coming up in sports. [ male announcer ] this was how my day began.

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afterthis weekend, there are no local men's teams left in the ncaa tournament, so it's up to the ladies to bring home a championship. georgetown hoyas face georgia tech tomorrow. maryland in action tonight against louisville, but they had to do it without most of their star, alisa thomas in foul trouble early on. maryland tested tonight. a defensive break down by the

terps holds the cardinals go up 7 at the first. but the star of the night, lauren, 24 points. unbelievable. hawkins a pretty solid night as well on both ends. lady terps hold on to beat louisville and advance to the sweet 16. >> a tremendous game, you know. it's a shame, obviously, that any team had to lose that game. >> this time last year, i was up here and coach b. had to fill in my words for me, because i wasso distraught. it feels good to be moving on. our team pushed hard to get better. alex a big game in detroit. on the first period in the power play, ovie fires. look at that. puts the caps on the board first with that one. mike tax on another. ovie again, first shot is blocked, gets his own rebound, past all those red jerseys. they hold on to win 5-3. the newest wizard hitting the practice court with his new

team. the center said his trade came as a surprise. he spent his whole career in denver. he's expected to suit up against new jersey of the. the second week of free agency started off with a bang, the big news today being peyton manning. he decided to take his talents to denver, saying no to san francisco and tennessee. his deal is expected to be worth $90 to $95 million over five years. the signing means the end of tebow mania. they've gone from one media storm to another in denver. two more redskins won't be returning. landry agreed to a one-year deal worth $4 million with the new york giants. he spent his last few seasons on injured reserve and receiver stallworth is returning to familiar territory agreeing to a one-year deal in new england. finally from tonight, from xavier lee high game.

look at the guy on the right behind the scorer's table. isn't that a little creepy? >> that is totally creepy. >> primetime tv and he decides to start playing with his dentures on that one. >> oh, man. that's pretty horrifying. >> the two coaches shaking hands. probably going to be on tv. that's going to haunt you in your dreams tonight, isn't it anita. >> crazy awful. >> oh, it's sexy, come on. >> not even a little bit. ♪

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don't touch that remote. if you stay right here you'll see at least three things you've never seen before. >> david letterman making first lady michelle obama uncomfortable. two, letterman forcing the first lady to tell a lie about her husband. and three, letterman nearly bringing the first lady to tears. plus there's some laughs in there some where. up next, david letterman. michelle obama is his guest. >> that's 9 news now for tonight. don't forget we're always on at wusa9.com.